Chapter 4 – Derisive Affection
(A/N: Not in order)
~*Flashback*~
"Harry! Where you been? I've been worried sick about you! Ever since Albus..." Minerva trailed off and looked both guilty and terrified. Harry blinked in surprise; Minerva never talk about Dumbledore any more, she thought it was equally dangerous and treacherous to talk about him after he had disappeared... and now when they finally knew he was dead, was terrified to even mention his name, as though he would be watching her from the grave.
Harry looked down awkwardly; he shouldn't have gone out, not without Ron and Hermione. He'd take them with him next time. He looked up briefly as the old woman hugged him but looked quickly down again as he saw the tears that were on her cheeks. He patted her back a bit uneasily and gently drew himself away from her. She didn't seem to notice.
"Harry! I was so worried about you! Never do that again! Never! Next time take someone with you, though preferably not Miss Granger or Mr Weasley, something seems wrong with them" Harry was instantly offended.
"My friends would never do anything to hurt me!" he sounded small and hurt even to his own ears, Minerva, suddenly not so mad, looked at him seriously.
"Trust no one Harry; not even your best friends"
~*End Flashback*~
"Harry! Where have you been? We've been worried sick about you! Ever since Minerva..." she trailed off and shot a quick, almost devious glance towards the young messy headed teenager. He had bruises covering his face, and the faint smell of a bar clung to him like old socks. She pulled a face.
The boy looked over to her, pitiful hope shining in his eyes. She smiled at him, but inside she sneered at his weakness; this was Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived in all his glory. She smiled at him sweetly; hugging him so that she didn't noticed the way a sneer marked his bruised face as well.
"Come on, Ron wants to see you, it's been so long..."she started to pull him along behind her as if he was a puppy, he had to strongly resist the urge to cripple her for life; being dragged behind one of the people he hated most in the world was not high on his to-do list.
"Harry!" his head snapped up in surprise and his mouth dropped open. His now green eyes widened in amazement and his hands fell lip to his sides. Looking at Ron he felt a small amount of sympathy for the red-head. He noticed Hermione's hand twitch at her side.
"Shit" out of the corner of his eye he saw Hermione's surprised look; a little boy like himself shouldn't be using such big words after all. Who cared? Just looking at Ron made him feel guilty; even if they had betrayed him, there were others, it was luck that had made Ron as he was now, it was unlucky that Harry had not been there; he could have fixed it. His mind stopped for a moment before he cam to a discission; who cared if his cover dropped, it was going to do so anyway, eventually.
"What the fuck happened?" Hermione's mouth dropped open and Ron raised an eyebrow at his once-best-mate, but grimaced.
"Death eaters caught me, wanted to know where you were, wouldn't believe me when I said I didn't have a frikkin clue" it was Harry's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"Wouldn't surprise me, it's something those bastards would do" he paused and looked at Ron shrewdly "you better not expect me to fix it or anything, I'm really not in the mood" before Ron could even open his mouth Hermione had interrupted him.
"Listen Potter" she sounded so alien to Harry that he took an unconscious step backwards "We know you can't do anything to help him. The only reason we've made you come was to ask you to take the potions position. Do you want it? Snape resigned and no one else wanted the job, surely its better than you hoped for?" Harry blinked at her and then calmly responded.
"What about DADA"
"I wouldn't trust you with it. Any way, I'm teaching it" Harry snorted, having the effect of making Hermione growl in her throat.
"I pity your poor students, how will they ever learn anything?" he felt Hermione's anger well up as she made an odd strangling noise in the back of her throat. He grinned and suddenly the small snivelling form of 'Harry Potter' disappeared before their eyes, only to be replaced with a grinning man who looked quite a few years older than them. He had intelligent blue eyes and blonde hair. He smirked at them.
"A pleasure to meet you" he held out a hand with a glittering band on his smallest finger "Sebastian Black" for a moment Hermione had gone silent.
"Where's Potter and who are you?!" Ron didn't say anything. Sebastian seemed to think for a moment before answering.
"I once knew someone called Potter, when I was young. He was mates with Sirius, why would I know where he was?" Hermione was not smiling.
"Where is he?"
"You know, I think he might be dead, some git killed him and his wife I think, not too certain on the details, I think there son lived though, someone named Harry?" seeing that Hermione was too incenced to stop him he continued.
"As I recall the boy went to live with his aunt and uncle or something like that. But I still don't see what that has to do with me?" surprisingly it was Ron who spoke.
"If you don't know where he is, why were you pretending to be him?" Sebastian turned so he was facing the bed and Ron, pointedly making sure his back was facing Hermione.
"It suited by purpose. You never would have let me in otherwise" but Ron, injured beyond repair saw the wink the other directed towards him, as well as the flash of green that suddenly appeared in his deep blue eyes, disappearing almost as soon as it had come. He smiled. (A/N: Going for a Macbeth thingo here, you know... the guilty becoming innocent, the innocent becoming guilty)
"That's not really an answer you know" Sebastian paused and thought again.
"Hmm, you know what? You're right. Here, I'll give you a reward for getting full marks!" Sebastian pulled out a long, thin piece of black wood and waved it over Ron. The redhead gasped as a rush of pain hit him, nearly resulting in heart failure. For a few seconds he couldn't breath and he felt sure that Harry was killing him. Somewhere in the back of his mind a wormish thing whispered to him; is this how it felt like for him...? Did he have to feel this...? Is it due revenge...? And then, suddenly, the pain had gone as if it had never existed and he felt surprisingly good.
Sebastian had not moved from his bed post and at the look Ron directed towards him brought up a finger to his mouth. Silence. As Ron's sound returned he noticed Hermione screeching at the top of her lungs, she sounded honestly scared and concerned. Not to mention furious.
"...ASTARD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HIM! I'LL KILL YOU! GET AWAY FROM HIM! STOP IT OR ELSE I'LL HURT YOU SO MUCH THAT YOU WON'T EVER BE ABLE TO WA..." he quickly tuned out again and sunk below the covers on his bed, felling surprisingly little pain as he almost drifted off to sleep. He drew his hand up to scratch his nose absently, wondering if Hermione had stopped shouting yet.
And suddenly froze.
He stayed very still, whilst he poked his head out from under all the sheets that covered him, noticing for the first time that it was hot and that he beginning to run out of oxygen. He looked towards Sebastian.
As if he had felt Ron's eyes on him, Harry turned to face the Weasley, noting the confused look on his face. He again put a finger to his lips, indicating silence. Ron obliged.
And then, suddenly, silence did fill the ward. Hermione had stopped shouting insults at Sebastian; only she seemed unaware of this. It took her thirty seconds; maybe even a minute for her to figure out no sound was coming out of her mouth. When she did she stopped and turned towards both of them, who had identical looks of surprise and amazement on there faces. She blushed scarlet and motioned for Sebastian to remove the curse before she tackled him.
He did so.
"Harry, I'm so sorry" he almost gagged on the saccharine voice that flowed from her mouth; instead, he had a coughing fit, turning to Ron wide eyed, who returned his look. He turned back; collected.
"Harry, can you ever forgive me?" suddenly serious he narrowed his eyes at the bushy haired woman in front of him and answered simply.
"No"
~^.^~
(A/N: Not in order)
~*Flashback*~
"Harry! Where you been? I've been worried sick about you! Ever since Albus..." Minerva trailed off and looked both guilty and terrified. Harry blinked in surprise; Minerva never talk about Dumbledore any more, she thought it was equally dangerous and treacherous to talk about him after he had disappeared... and now when they finally knew he was dead, was terrified to even mention his name, as though he would be watching her from the grave.
Harry looked down awkwardly; he shouldn't have gone out, not without Ron and Hermione. He'd take them with him next time. He looked up briefly as the old woman hugged him but looked quickly down again as he saw the tears that were on her cheeks. He patted her back a bit uneasily and gently drew himself away from her. She didn't seem to notice.
"Harry! I was so worried about you! Never do that again! Never! Next time take someone with you, though preferably not Miss Granger or Mr Weasley, something seems wrong with them" Harry was instantly offended.
"My friends would never do anything to hurt me!" he sounded small and hurt even to his own ears, Minerva, suddenly not so mad, looked at him seriously.
"Trust no one Harry; not even your best friends"
~*End Flashback*~
"Harry! Where have you been? We've been worried sick about you! Ever since Minerva..." she trailed off and shot a quick, almost devious glance towards the young messy headed teenager. He had bruises covering his face, and the faint smell of a bar clung to him like old socks. She pulled a face.
The boy looked over to her, pitiful hope shining in his eyes. She smiled at him, but inside she sneered at his weakness; this was Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived in all his glory. She smiled at him sweetly; hugging him so that she didn't noticed the way a sneer marked his bruised face as well.
"Come on, Ron wants to see you, it's been so long..."she started to pull him along behind her as if he was a puppy, he had to strongly resist the urge to cripple her for life; being dragged behind one of the people he hated most in the world was not high on his to-do list.
"Harry!" his head snapped up in surprise and his mouth dropped open. His now green eyes widened in amazement and his hands fell lip to his sides. Looking at Ron he felt a small amount of sympathy for the red-head. He noticed Hermione's hand twitch at her side.
"Shit" out of the corner of his eye he saw Hermione's surprised look; a little boy like himself shouldn't be using such big words after all. Who cared? Just looking at Ron made him feel guilty; even if they had betrayed him, there were others, it was luck that had made Ron as he was now, it was unlucky that Harry had not been there; he could have fixed it. His mind stopped for a moment before he cam to a discission; who cared if his cover dropped, it was going to do so anyway, eventually.
"What the fuck happened?" Hermione's mouth dropped open and Ron raised an eyebrow at his once-best-mate, but grimaced.
"Death eaters caught me, wanted to know where you were, wouldn't believe me when I said I didn't have a frikkin clue" it was Harry's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"Wouldn't surprise me, it's something those bastards would do" he paused and looked at Ron shrewdly "you better not expect me to fix it or anything, I'm really not in the mood" before Ron could even open his mouth Hermione had interrupted him.
"Listen Potter" she sounded so alien to Harry that he took an unconscious step backwards "We know you can't do anything to help him. The only reason we've made you come was to ask you to take the potions position. Do you want it? Snape resigned and no one else wanted the job, surely its better than you hoped for?" Harry blinked at her and then calmly responded.
"What about DADA"
"I wouldn't trust you with it. Any way, I'm teaching it" Harry snorted, having the effect of making Hermione growl in her throat.
"I pity your poor students, how will they ever learn anything?" he felt Hermione's anger well up as she made an odd strangling noise in the back of her throat. He grinned and suddenly the small snivelling form of 'Harry Potter' disappeared before their eyes, only to be replaced with a grinning man who looked quite a few years older than them. He had intelligent blue eyes and blonde hair. He smirked at them.
"A pleasure to meet you" he held out a hand with a glittering band on his smallest finger "Sebastian Black" for a moment Hermione had gone silent.
"Where's Potter and who are you?!" Ron didn't say anything. Sebastian seemed to think for a moment before answering.
"I once knew someone called Potter, when I was young. He was mates with Sirius, why would I know where he was?" Hermione was not smiling.
"Where is he?"
"You know, I think he might be dead, some git killed him and his wife I think, not too certain on the details, I think there son lived though, someone named Harry?" seeing that Hermione was too incenced to stop him he continued.
"As I recall the boy went to live with his aunt and uncle or something like that. But I still don't see what that has to do with me?" surprisingly it was Ron who spoke.
"If you don't know where he is, why were you pretending to be him?" Sebastian turned so he was facing the bed and Ron, pointedly making sure his back was facing Hermione.
"It suited by purpose. You never would have let me in otherwise" but Ron, injured beyond repair saw the wink the other directed towards him, as well as the flash of green that suddenly appeared in his deep blue eyes, disappearing almost as soon as it had come. He smiled. (A/N: Going for a Macbeth thingo here, you know... the guilty becoming innocent, the innocent becoming guilty)
"That's not really an answer you know" Sebastian paused and thought again.
"Hmm, you know what? You're right. Here, I'll give you a reward for getting full marks!" Sebastian pulled out a long, thin piece of black wood and waved it over Ron. The redhead gasped as a rush of pain hit him, nearly resulting in heart failure. For a few seconds he couldn't breath and he felt sure that Harry was killing him. Somewhere in the back of his mind a wormish thing whispered to him; is this how it felt like for him...? Did he have to feel this...? Is it due revenge...? And then, suddenly, the pain had gone as if it had never existed and he felt surprisingly good.
Sebastian had not moved from his bed post and at the look Ron directed towards him brought up a finger to his mouth. Silence. As Ron's sound returned he noticed Hermione screeching at the top of her lungs, she sounded honestly scared and concerned. Not to mention furious.
"...ASTARD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HIM! I'LL KILL YOU! GET AWAY FROM HIM! STOP IT OR ELSE I'LL HURT YOU SO MUCH THAT YOU WON'T EVER BE ABLE TO WA..." he quickly tuned out again and sunk below the covers on his bed, felling surprisingly little pain as he almost drifted off to sleep. He drew his hand up to scratch his nose absently, wondering if Hermione had stopped shouting yet.
And suddenly froze.
He stayed very still, whilst he poked his head out from under all the sheets that covered him, noticing for the first time that it was hot and that he beginning to run out of oxygen. He looked towards Sebastian.
As if he had felt Ron's eyes on him, Harry turned to face the Weasley, noting the confused look on his face. He again put a finger to his lips, indicating silence. Ron obliged.
And then, suddenly, silence did fill the ward. Hermione had stopped shouting insults at Sebastian; only she seemed unaware of this. It took her thirty seconds; maybe even a minute for her to figure out no sound was coming out of her mouth. When she did she stopped and turned towards both of them, who had identical looks of surprise and amazement on there faces. She blushed scarlet and motioned for Sebastian to remove the curse before she tackled him.
He did so.
"Harry, I'm so sorry" he almost gagged on the saccharine voice that flowed from her mouth; instead, he had a coughing fit, turning to Ron wide eyed, who returned his look. He turned back; collected.
"Harry, can you ever forgive me?" suddenly serious he narrowed his eyes at the bushy haired woman in front of him and answered simply.
"No"
~^.^~